"Xiao Hao, come out and eat!"
Zhou Xueguo's voice sounded from the living room.
"Coming."
Zhou Hao replied. He composed himself and quickly walked out of the bedroom.
His mother, Wang Shuyun, cooked quite quickly, since the ingredients were all prepared in advance and did not take much effort.
During the meal, Wang Shuyun smiled and said, "Dad, quit your job if you can. After all, we don't have any difficulties anymore. Don't tire yourself out."
Zhou Hao hurriedly took the opportunity to nod and agree. "Mom's right. Dad, quickly resign and rest at home."
Zhou Xueguo took a sip of wine and glared at Zhou Hao angrily. "Son, don't interfere. If I don't work, who will support this family? But your mother is right. We should change jobs. I'll talk to the leaders in a few days."
Seeing that Zhou Xueguo had relented, Zhou Hao was happy. His father's work was very tiring, and many people would even die from being overworked.
"Son, eat more." Wang Shuyun kept putting meat into Zhou Hao's bowl.
Zhou Hao did not refuse and chuckled.
For two days straight, he was in a good mood. He even hummed a tune in class.
Xu Ling, who was sitting in the front seat, did not appreciate his new attitude.
"If you don't advance in martial arts, you'll fall behind, you slacker." Xu Ling had already signed up for the combat assessment and vowed to get first place!
However, that could only happen if the hidden genius of the school did not take action.
Zhou Hao chuckled and said, "Xu Ling, I signed up to participate too."
"Pfft!"
Before Xu Ling could say anything, her deskmate, Li Yun, could not help but laugh.
Turning around, Li Yun was still smiling. "Zhou Hao, shouldn't you be aware of your own limits? Whether it was during the last tournament or during this combat assessment, you need to at least be at the first level of blood essence to sign up…"
Xu Ling's face darkened. She turned around and was about to reprimand Zhou Hao but was suddenly stunned.
"Zhou Hao, what happened to your blood essence?"
Zhou Hao said indifferently, "I was lucky to break through to the first level of blood essence last night."
Li Yun's laughter froze. "You, you actually broke through?"
Xu Ling frowned. "It's just the first level of blood essence. It's nothing to be surprised about."
Li Yun said awkwardly, "Yes, yes, it's nothing."
Xu Ling ignored Li Yun and looked at Zhou Hao. "You used the Blood Amalgamation Pill again, right? It's alright for you to break through to the first level of blood essence with two Blood Amalgamation Pills. However, do you really think you should be signing up for the combat assessment right after breaking through? Even suicidal people wouldn't do something like that."
She knew that Zhou Hao had made a lot of money from the previous tournament, and assumed that he probably used it to buy the Blood Amalgamation Pills.
Zhou Hao was already used to Xu Ling's disdain. He could tell that Xu Ling had good intentions.
"With the teacher around, nothing will happen. I'll just treat it as practice," he said casually, his gaze intertwining with Xu Ling's. "Didn't you say that I have to work hard?"
Xu Ling immediately rolled her eyes. "I told you to work hard, not to die… Forget it, I can't be bothered with you."
However, just as school was about to end, Xu Ling added, "Go to the training field later. I'll teach you a set of movements."
Zhou Hao laughed secretly.
He had figured out Xu Ling's true nature: a girl with a sharp tongue but a soft heart.
"No need. I still have something to deal with." He waved his hand and refused. It was the truth. He indeed had something to do as the king-level saber had been completed.
"To wash a pig is to waste both water and soap!"
After saying this coldly, Xu Ling turned around and left.
Zhou Hao was speechless.
In the evening, he visited the bearded storekeeper and paid more than 4 million yuan for the forging fees and materials. He then received his saber.
"Sir, this saber can easily tear through the defense of a low king-level beast. If you want to test it, I'll immediately arrange…" the bearded shopkeeper said.
"No need."
Zhou Hao waved his hand and flicked the handle of the saber.
Buzz.
The saber trembled and hummed.
"Not bad."
He smiled. For the saber to be able to withstand the force of his flick, the quality of his saber had indeed reached the king level. He immediately turned around and left.
The bearded shopkeeper was dumbfounded. That was a king-level saber. Even a full-power strike from a high-level master might not be able to cause the saber to tremble.
In the end, with a casual flick from this customer, the saber almost bent.
"Could he be a grandmaster?"
Thinking of this, the bearded store owner was extremely excited. He had actually received a martial grandmaster.
…
At the South Station defense line of the Huadong City.
Battalion Commander Chu stood on the tall defensive wall and looked at the lush forest in the distance.
"Did anything happen recently?" he asked into his ear-mic.
"Reporting to Battalion Commander, everything is normal at the city's defense line. No outsiders have infiltrated!"
Battalion Commander Chu frowned. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, Battalion Commander. No abnormalities have been detected from the equipment," a voice sounded in the ear-mic.
"Continue to stay alert. We can't let a single foreign race expert infiltrate the base!" Battalion Commander Chu said coldly.
There were many ways for outsiders to infiltrate the city. The Insect Race was especially hard to guard against.
The human bases had suffered a lot because of them.
But unfortunately, the detectors couldn't keep up and couldn't stop the Insect Race from gathering information.
Buzz.
Suddenly, the lush forest shook.
Battalion Commander Chu's expression changed slightly as he immediately ordered his men to operate the large searchlight.
The lights swept past.
Green insects surged out from the lush forest.
"Intercept them with the electric network!"
Battalion Commander Chu heaved a sigh of relief. After all, it was common for green insects to attack the base. However, just as he finished giving the order, his pupils constricted. He followed the light and saw a huge shadow behind the green insects.
"It's the Flying Beetle. Level three alert!"
Di di.
An ear-piercing alarm sounded from the defensive line.
One by one, fully armed soldiers woke up from their sleep and rushed up the defensive wall in an extremely short period of time.